Keep ur eyes and ears alert, learn as much as you can, read expired listings every day, talk to the sellers of expired listings, farm an area, offer classes for investors.

@Matt Roberts, I am blown away by some of the success stories and while I'm sure we're both approaching this with our eyes wide open in the pursuit of realistic, sustainable goals in mind; it'll be awesome to one day be able to tell our story to encourage others!

If you are handy and like doing hands on repairs, try to buy in an area that you will be in, or driving thru from time to time, at least that way you can keep some costs down by doing some of the work yourself, or at least you can keep your own eyes on how the properties are being kept up.  

Many of you may be going into your first rehab projects with eyes wide open and are thus well aware of these additional costs.

This does not mean you will be awesome right out of the gate, though - there may (will) be some structural issues with your interactions that need polishing (interaction ebb and flow, timing, eye contact, phrasing, intonation, color and more).

@Joel Owens Yes, I will keep an eye out for  business for sale with financing options and available second gen restaurants as those would be ideal situations, especially if already in a decent location.  

The one thing I can say for sure is after being in business all my life is that not one person has ever looked me in the eye and accused me of any form of dishonesty. 

Also, I can be some eyes and ears and even a talking head here on the ground if anyone is interested in partnering up with a beginner who is eager to learn and grow!

Get a bookkeeper to take a look too (in case your eyes glaze over with this stuff).  

It will never, ever, appraise out "properly" (in their eyes) but it has disproportionally high value to boat owners that see it as a way to "save $200 per month on boat storage!"